Driver admits guilt in double fatal

Granger woman forgoes bond, begins serving at least four years.

Granger woman forgoes bond, begins serving at least four years.

February 02, 2006|JEFF ROMIG Tribune Staff Writer

NILES -- Amanda Christenson sat trembling while she waited to be called to the podium by Judge Gary Bruce. The 25-year-old Granger woman knew these would be her final moments of freedom for a while. Then the call came. "Mr. Burch, is your client ready?" Bruce asked Christenson's lawyer, Andrew Burch. At that moment, Christenson -- who was flanked on either side by female loved ones -- took a deep breath, stood and walked through the waist-high swinging door that symbolized the barrier between her past and the next four years. That's how long Christenson, 25, will spend in a Michigan prison after agreeing to a plea deal where she would plead guilty as charged to two counts of the 15-year felony of vehicular homicide in exchange for a 48-month cap on her minimum sentence. On Nov. 23, after drinking more glasses of wine than she could remember when testifying Wednesday in court, Christenson drove away from a Roseland bar in her Lexus. She did so despite having a blood-alcohol level that a blood test revealed to be .14 percent, almost twice the legal limit of .08 percent. Then, at approximately 7:45 p.m., she rammed into the back of a stopped sport utility vehicle, instantly killing its two occupants, driver Donna Lutin, 52, and her companion, 52-year-old Michael King. When Christenson struck Lutin's small Suzuki SUV from behind, she pushed it into a stopped pickup truck in front of it. The driver of the pickup, Mark Wayne Steven, 51, also of Niles, was treated and released at Lakeland Hospital in Niles. Lutin and King were pronounced dead at the scene. Christenson asked to have her bond revoked, so she could begin serving her time Wednesday, instead of potentially remaining free on the $100,000 cash or surety bond until her March 13 sentencing. Burch said Christenson turning herself in prior to sentencing isn't something he typically sees from a client. "This really isn't about her, it's about the victims," Burch said after the hearing. Berrien County Assistant Prosecutor Kelly Travis laid out the plea deal for Bruce, explaining that the four-year term would fall within Christenson's sentencing guidelines. Christenson admitted her crime to Bruce before he accepted her plea. "I drank excessively," she said through tears. "I drove my car into the back of a SUV and the two people in the SUV died." Staff writer Jeff Romig: jromig@sbtinfo.com (269) 687-7001